Prayers, Garbage Picking, Elimination Diets, & More {7QT}

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Jesus, have mercy. I don't have much to add to the conversation on race and violence and murder and the horrible things that have happened in the last few days. I don't consider myself well informed enough on the matters at hand to have any sort of educated opinion except that I know the devil is dwelling in all of this. The anger, the racism, the murder, the division, the blood. Last month I wrote a piece on the culture of outrage. There are appropriate times to be angry at injustice, heck yes. But that anger is only worth anything if it moves toward action. Simply being angry gets us nowhere or worse, only fuels the fires and causes more violence and death. Let your anger be channeled into discussions and prayer and fasting and donations and peace.

Our family will be praying a Divine Mercy Chaplet today at 3 p.m. for the victims of violence these past few days as well as for peace in our country. Join us?

They are in absolutely beautiful condition!! I think we're actually going to keep the high chair since we've never had a really great one. And as much as I want to keep the beautiful bassinet (it's PERFECT!!), we don't need it so I'll either pass it along to one of my pregnant friends or donate it to the crisis pregnancy center. I have a feeling they were hoping someone would pick it up because it just doesn't make sense to throw this away. I just love when people give stuff away without expecting anything in return. I get such a thrill when we put something by the road and someone comes and takes it! (Is that weird?)

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We're about to be knee deep in zucchini and summer squash, friends. Help a sister out. What are your favorite kid-friendly recipes? Yes, I often saute with oil or butter and garlic and salt but that gets old real quick and the boys aren't big fans. We've done zucchini cakes in the past that everyone loved but they're pretty time intensive and if you don't get every bit of moisture out, they can be mushy. Are one of those zoodler things worth it? This one is pretty cheap so maybe it's worth it to try... I'm also on a super fun dairy-free thing right now so that complicates things a bit.

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Speaking of which...

Yes. Dairy-free at the moment. In case you were wondering why, well, here goes the long and boringish story. A few days after Ben was born my legs started getting itchy. Crazy itchy where I would start to bleed from the scratching. That's never happened after any of my births but I was hoping it was a weird getting older hormone thing or maybe a side effect of the pitocin or saline I received at the hospital that I don't normally get. It went away a few days later but for the couple months or so postpartum I just felt different. Like my body was off somehow. I had no desire to eat (postpartum and nursing!) and all I wanted was water. I described it to my husband like I felt like I was "shedding" and I just wanted everything out of me.

That gradually went away, too, after a few months but then at about four months or so postpartum I started developing little eczema patches all over my legs. I've never had any issue at all with eczema and every few weeks I would get a new patch and they would flare up every so often and bleed and peel (super pretty!!). I got a few smaller patches on my abdomen and back but it was mostly on my legs. I kept feeling like I should probably start eliminating foods to see if pregnancy had triggered a food allergy which I know happens. But I kept trying other treatments because cheese and bread and laziness. Anyhow...a few months ago I started periodically getting an itchy feeling all over and my sister was diagnosed officially with celiac's (which can run in families) so I decided it was finally time to cut things out at least to know and also to rule out anything more serious. My guess is that pregnancy triggered some sort of sensitivity or autoimmune type of response? I didn't notice a huge change with the gluten (except that too much of it will cause bloating) so I moved on to dairy and am in the midst of that. I'm simultaneously wanting to see a difference and not wanting to because cheese and ice cream. Boring story done now.

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How about some pics from our Independence Day?

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Our oldest turned 12 (12!) while he was away at camp last week so we did a really lamesimple celebration on July fourth as well. No fancy cake and because of the hot temperatures I steered him toward rice krispy treats so that the oven wouldn't have to be used. Apparently all the fun special birthday treatment stops when you turn 12 around here? But he did have camp so.

Not even the solace of a good picture taken.

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Lastly, please say a prayer for the repose of Brian's grandma. She passed away in her sleep yesterday. She lived a long life and was a beautiful faithful woman. One of my favorite stories of her was that she put off having knee surgery done for years because it meant that she would no longer be able to kneel at Mass (which until the last few years she attended daily). I know her prayers for her family are even more powerful now but I also know she'd be the first to ask that we pray for her soul, too. If you could say a quick prayer for Mary, we'd be so grateful!

38 comments

Flag waffles! Genius! Zoodles are really good. We actually just use a peeler and cut them like fettuccine noodles and it works just fine. More time consuming but no extra kitchen gadget. We also like baked zucchini fries.

Prayers for the grandmother. I will come back to check out what people say about zucchini. I'm trying to use it more but I don't love it. And finding stuff on the side of the road is always fun! I also get a thrill when people take what I put out. I find myself peeking outside to see if it's been taken.

Go for zoodles! And saute with onion as a side to chicken. I like to substitute zucchini for pasta in this lasagna recipe, but (sorry!) it contains cheese. http://www.ohsweetbasil.com/zucchini-lasagna-recipe.html The meat sauce by itself is great, maybe you can just pair with zoodles or zucchini. Also, zucchini bread! http://paleogrubs.com/zucchini-bread-recipe Look for paleo zucchini recipes, which will largely exclude dairy for you.

I finally got serious about my upset stomach and took out gluten and dairy. I felt much better. I added stuff back in slowly one at a time. Gluten causes stomach upset for days afterwards. No problems with taking communion though. Certain dairy products cause immediate discomfort. But, ice cream is completely fine and I have no side effects. Butter is a no-no. Products with dried milk or mild chocolate are a no-no. I think cheese is a no-no too, but I can't rule out that there wasn't any butter in what I ate and I really don't miss cheese, so I haven't tried it again. I'm not a milk drinker so I haven't added that one back in to try. I do miss pizza! I'm not sure why I can handle ice cream, but not going to complain about that. It is funny when I say no dairy, but give me ice cream. : )

Ha, ice cream is one of the things I miss most! Hopefully, that'll somehow be the case with me, too! So strange that it's only certain foods. I felt like it was in my head but it seemed like after I ate certain cheeses from certain stores, the eczema would flare up. But maybe that could actually happen depending on its composition?

If you are really missing ice cream, try getting a yonannas. It makes a soft serve style dessert from nothing but frozen fruit. I add cocoa powder to the bananas, and it is a good replacement for chocolate ice cream.

Two of my children and I get eczema from dairy (except cheese seems to be ok). I have read that is could be the casein that causes it. Prayers that you are able to figure out the cause and cope with it. We have a spiralizer and use it all the time. My kids love zucchini noodles in place of pasta. I even made a "pasta" salad with zoodles on the 4th and it got rave reviews. My kids also like baked zucchini chips (you can search pinterest for the instructions but they are really easy to make).

We often face the zucchini issue, too... some of my faves are zucchini lasagna, zucchini meatballs (just throw in shredded zucchini in the meat mix instead of breadcrumbs), chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini turkey burgers (http://butimhungry.com/2014/05/01/turkey-and-zucchini-burgers-with-green-onion-and-cumin/), and this amazing zucchini soup that is just so good that I can't stand it (http://www.remedialeating.com/2013/07/you-negotiate-the-corners.html). Happy zucchini cookin'! ;)

Grilled zucchini is SO GOOD - just mince up a bunch of garlic and mix it with butter (but no butter for you so olive oil?) and salt and grill it - honestly, I usually end up eating most of it because it's so darned good!

Also if you shred a bunch and freeze it now, it'll be a really easy addition to throw into soups in the winter :)

I get dry patches of skin on my face (which makes me look so old) and my arms...I don't know if it's eczema or not, but it's not pretty. But I don't remember it going away when I did Whole 30 and eliminated dairy.

I have a zucchini noodle thing and used it once - I wasnt a big fan, but maybe i need to give it another try.

I have been off dairy for a few years now. It was triggered by my 6th pregnancy. In recipes that require milk (especially for baking waffles, cakes, muffins, etc) I substitute unsweetened almond milk. Noone has noticed the difference. All the baked goods are still gobbled up by my husband and 7 boys (well, 6: the baby can't eat them yet). I pray you are able to figure your body out so you can feel better!

Oh so much to chat about :-) 2- I also get excited when my kerbside pickups 'offerings' are taken, we're weird I know.3- I keep thinking about buying one of those spiral gizmos too. If you do succumb let me know what you think4- Allergies, really worth eliminating and seeing what result you come up with. All my childhood I suffered with eczema, when first married I went dairy free for a few years and now I'm all good and can have dairy again. Though cheese still makes me feel a little ill. However sometimes it might be a case of you can have the yellow dairy and not the white or vice versa. Or maybe you can tolerate a certain amount but not too much. Have fun working it out.7- Will pray for Brian's Grandma

Oh, that's good to hear! I've had hopes that if it is dairy that I can eliminate it and get 'right' again and then slowly reintroduce it but I wasn't sure if it was realistic or not. Thank you for the prayers!

Just thought of a few of our favourite zucchini recipes. Zucchini patties, grate zucchini, potato and sweet potato, mix with egg and flour and fry in a little oil. Also love quiches with zucchini and Zucchini slice.http://www.foodtolove.com.au/recipes/zucchini-slice-17865

Our youngest is dairy free, though it's definitely a severe lactose intolerance and not a reaction to all dairy. So if something just has whey in it, he's good. Thankfully, there's lots of good dairy free ice creams out there now, but we haven't found any good faux cheeses. But I've heard goat's milk cheese is easier to digest so, that might be an option for some people. The hardest part is just when we're in a pinch and need convenience food. With me off gluten and him off dairy, it's tough to do take out or a frozen entree from the store.

All the zucchini! I'm a big fan of putting it in a fritata (sp?) and, of course, zucchini bread. I just found a recipe that makes the bread more like carrot cake (with carrots and apples, but still with whole wheat flour) that's now my new favorite. Wish I could point you to the recipe but I can't remember now where I found it! :(And I really hate to be "that woman of the internet" but your symptoms sound suspiciously of diabetes... You hadn't mentioned going to a doctor, so forgive me being a nuisance, but have you talked to a doctor about this? Just concerned is all. Good luck with the zucchini!

Thank you! I love carrot cake! I haven't gone to the doctor, to be honest, but I'm looking at the symptoms for diabetes and most don't seem to currently match up. I appreciate the concern, though, and don't mind at all :)

Hi! I hope I'll be as tough as some grandmothers! That's a great example to the rest of us to be more reverent. I had a face skin issue with my first pregnancy and thereafter. I think maybe fish oil, natural oil topical cream and really good prenatals helped get rid of it and has kept it away this pregnancy. I had stopped taking the vitamins for a couple days and it looked like it might be coming back. I don't like eliminating things from my diet either unless I really need to.

I had insanely itchy patches begin on my legs and spread throughout my body about five years ago, shortly before I got married. I went to my GP, a dermatologist, and an allergist, with no lasting relief. (The dermatologist did prescribe me ten days of Prednisone, which helped, but the rash returned when I went off the steroids.)Finally, I saw a naturopath, who ordered extensive blood work. The tests showed that I was reacting very severely to eggs, and somewhat less severely to dairy and wheat - though not gluten. I immediately cut all three out of my diet for about four months - it was tough! But she also put me on a precise regimen of high-quality, adrenal-supporting supplements and a few vitamins that I had tested deficient in. It worked! I followed the restricted diet until my wedding, then ate whatever I wanted to on our honeymoon. Four years and two kids later, I can still eat whatever I want, and the rash has not returned. I truly think it was all due to chronic stress that was resolved after our marriage. My point is, it may be very well worth it to consult a holistically-minded health practitioner to target the cause of these symptoms. Perhaps you can address an underlying issue and enjoy your favorite foods again in time. And for now, I recommend the coconut milk "ice cream" as far superior to the other substitutes!

I pop onto your blog a couple of time a month! It's always so inspiring to see a family who is striving to live the same values that we are trying to raise our boys with. The photos are beautiful and your boys are adorable! I love the simplicity and beauty of your decorating. I hope your health improves. God bless. And, thanks for the reminder to pray a divine mercy chaplet for peace. Will put that on my to do list for the boys and me tomorrow. God bless! Katie from Colombia

Try grilling zucchini! Slice lengthwise into 1/4-1/2" thick strips and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill right on the grates for about 10 min on low, flipping once. This is pretty much our perpetual side anytime we grill meat during zucchini season. Also works great with eggplant (takes a little longer to cook) and yellow squash.

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